Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Here is another episode of high strangeness and weather anomalies, as a mysterious movement in the waters of Lake Washington has left everyone stunned.

Here is the eyewitness report:

My name is Beth Kearney and have lived in the Holmes Point area of Kirkland for 30 plus years. On Tuesday morning May 10th, 2011, my husband & I witnessed the most unusual events unfold on the North end of Lake Washington, unlike anything we've ever seen before. I was looking out the window at the lake about 6:45am noticing how unusually calm and still the water was when suddenly I noticed large, evenly spaced rings radiating across the lake (like dropping a rock in the water). From our vantage point I couldn't see the source of what was causing it but it had to have been very large to create those large, perfectly spaced rings. There were no boats out on the lake, no jet ski's, no kayaks, no barges......nothing. As the rings started to dissipate what looked like a raging river formed on the West side of the lake in a small narrow swath cutting through the rings that had formed. Not like the wake of a boat where it fans out, just a narrow strip all the same width with a strong, tumultuous current running in a North to South direction. The odd thing about it was that it didn't start at any one point.....it just appeared and definitely had a strong current moving in a Southern direction. As the rings died down and the "raging river" calmed on the West side of the lake, all of a sudden the same thing appeared on our side of the lake. Again, it looked like a thin, even strip of water with a strong current moving in a southern direction. It appeared just as the other one had across the lake.....not starting at a Northern point and running South......it was just there all of a sudden. Thankfully,I was able to get a video of it. I would love to have someone to show this video to and figure out what caused this odd sequence of events. If this doesn't sound newsworthy enough for King5 could you give me any ideas on whom or what agency I might contact to get some information about this. I have spoken with 2 very interested people at NOAA and they are working on who else I might contact as well. - King5.

WATCH: Video of the formation of rings in Lake Washington.

Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle and the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington.

Following a short and quiet period, the Tungurahua volcano in Ecuador has resumed its eruptive activity by emitting columns of ash and gases several kilometres above the crater.

Since Monday there have been 15 long period events, 2 blasts and 17 tremor episodes broadcast. The Tungurahua volcano resumed its eruptive activity with the emission of ash and incandescent material fell 800 meters down the flanks of the mountain. According to Daniel Andrade, volcanologist on duty at the Observatory 'Guadalupe' Geophysical Institute (IG) of the National Polytechnic School in Pelileo, this new stage was expected due to high energy levels that were recorded inside the volcano. For several days, the volcano seemed 'asleep', but this was due to be recorded internally magma injection at any time would show. That is precisely what is happening, said Andrade, who noted that with this scenario and monitoring data, it is anticipated that the volcano could trigger an eruption activity similar to that recorded in July and August 2006, where even drop was 'gravel'. Andrade's version was confirmed by the IG's report which highlighted the constant generation of emission column with moderate to heavy load of ash that reached as maximum height of 3 km above the volcano's summit, the material is directed east, north and northeast. This activity, according to the report, was accompanied by the expulsion of hot material in the form of blocks that have shot about 200 to 500 meters on the flanks of the volcano from the crater rim. Additionally, in the early hours of yesterday reported bellows of high intensity. Rodrigo Ruiz, watch Pillate sector, which belongs to the parish COTAL, reported that from 01:00 in yesterday was to observe the presence of pyroclastic flows moving down the 'body' of the volcano of a moderate. Ruiz said there is some uncertainty in the area that people do not know what will happen in the coming days with this new revival of the colossus. His duty as a lookout, he stressed, is not to alarm people, but only report the details that are generated about the behavior of the 'Mama Tungurahua' to, in that, take coordinated action between volcanologists, authorities and the general community . 25 000 people have been affected during this latest eruption process which led to the National Risk Management (SNGR) to declare the alert in the areas of influence of Tungurahua. - LaHora.

On September 4, 2010, a 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit New Zealand. Although the tremor originated from deep underground with an epicentre far away from major populated areas, it left an estimated damage of over 3 billion dollars. In February of this year, the country suffered from a lower magnitude quake of 6.3, but one that was recorded as the country's deadliest natural disaster in 80 years, taking the lives of hundreds of people, with numerous others missing and causing widespread damage as it occurred at a shallow depth of 5 kilometres or 3.1 miles. Since then, the country has a series of minor quakes and aftershocks, pointing towards the imminent possibility of another major earthquake.

A series of aftershocks woke a number of Christchurch residents in the early hours of Sunday 15th May, 2011. Aftershocks continue to rattle Christchurch on a daily basis with 7 occurring between 4pm on the 14th May and 3pm on the 15th May. Some of these shocks relate to the 7.1 September 2010 earthquake and others to the 6.3 February 2011 earthquake. According to the Geonet website, Christchurch was shaken by 3 large aftershocks between 1am and 3am on Sunday 15th May. The first was a 4.0 magnitude centered near Springston. This aftershock was close to the area of the September 2010 earthquake. The second and third aftershocks measured 4.6 and 4.0 and both were in the ocean off the East Coast. They were centered just over 20 kilometers from Cathedral Square in Christchurch central. These aftershocks disturbed many people’s sleep and Facebook comments reported that frightened children ran and climbed into bed with parents. Other people described the tremors as a good shake and shudder. One person said their windows rattled and there was also a comment about chairs on wheels moving. The inner city red zone of Christchurch is still cordoned off to the public with many buildings unstable and severely damaged. Every aftershock has the potential of causing further damage to these fragile structures. On Saturday 14th May, The Press headlines read, ‘Cera warning: demolish or else’. The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (Cera) is in charge of the rebuild and recovery operations in Christchurch and has given building owners a time frame of 10 days to report back to them with a demolition plan. Failing this, Cera will arrange for the demolition and pass the bill on to the owners. It is possible that as many as 900 buildings in Christchurch central will need to be brought down; a number of these have already been demolished. Christchurch residents are still upset that they cannot get into town to see the damage for themselves. Civil Defence denied access to the CBD while the country was in a state of emergency and Cera says the area is still too dangerous for Christchurch people to enter. The Press reported on the 14th May that Marie Mayer, chairwoman of the NZ Association of Counselors, said that people need to see the city to be able to grieve for it. A call has been made to open up a walkway so people can walk through the ravaged city center and leave flowers or small items as an expression of their loss and sorrow. - Suite101.

The following video is a capture of NASA's Solar and Heliospheric Observatory's (SOHO) Real Time MPEG Movies. According to NASA, the SOHO mission is a cooperative effort with the European Space Agency (ESA) to study the internal structure of the Sun, its extensive outer atmosphere and the origin of the solar wind, the stream of highly ionized gas that blows continuously outward through the Solar System.

The video constitutes one of the latest SOHO solar images and features a large unidentified flying object (UFO) near the Sun. Based on the evidence of the images, the object seems to be several times larger than planet Earth. What exactly is it?

WATCH:SOHO's capture of Large UFO near the Sun.

In March, a SOHO video capture of the Sun, provided a strange anomaly, gigantic streaks of lights moving across the Sun.

WATCH: Streaks of light on SOHO images.

What does this represent? Are we looking a computer glitch, a digital distortion or a channel interference? Earlier this year NASA told us that the Sun is showing increasing signs of life as we near solar maximum. They declared that the Sun is expected to undergo a period of increased magnetic and sunspot activity. This new activity in the solar cycle comes after years of record solar minimum, where sunspots and solar flares subsided to the lowest level in nearly a century, lasting longer than usual.

Back in 2008, the solar cycle plunged into the deepest minimum in nearly a century. Sunspots all but vanished, solar flares subsided, and the sun was eerily quiet. "Ever since, we've been waiting for solar activity to pick up," says Richard Fisher, head of the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC. "It's been three long years." Quiet spells on the sun are nothing new. They come along every 11 years or so—it's a natural part of the solar cycle. This particular solar minimum, however, was lasting longer than usual, prompting some researchers to wonder if it would ever end. News flash: The pot is starting to boil. "Finally," says Fisher, "we are beginning to see some action." As 2011 unfolds, sunspots have returned and they are crackling with activity. - NASA.

WATCH: Playlist of recent anomalies around the Sun.

Is it possible that we are looking at more than just a change to solar maximum, is there something in the Solar System, causing some form of perturbations around the Sun. What is this something? An incoming planetary object? Planet X, a brown dwarf, a death star,...? Or does this have to do with the giant ribbon of energetic neutral atoms, discovered at the edge of the Solar System, that is mixing outside interstellar matter with solar winds of the outer heliosphere?

Could that be reason and rationale for NASA to have so many missions studying the Sun? Have a look at the following image:

Stunning.

Is it possible that there are others studying the Sun as well? Extraterrestrials?

Whether it is an incoming planetary object, the ribbon or something else, it seems quite obvious that NASA and top officials in the United States Administration are very concerned about the Sun and its reaction towards this cosmic catalyst.

A senior official at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says solar storms pose a growing threat to criticial infrastructure such as satellite communications, navigation systems and electrical transmission equipment. NOAA Assistant Secretary Kathryn Sullivan says the intensity of solar storms is expected to peak in 2013 and countries should prepare for "potentially devastating effects." Solar storms release particles that can temporarily disable or permanently destroy fragile computer circuits. Sullivan, a former NASA astronaut who in 1984 became the first woman to walk in space, told a U.N. weather conference in Geneva on Tuesday that "it is not a question of if, but really a matter of when a major solar event could hit our planet." - AP.

As the flooding from the Mississippi River continues to wreck catastrophic havoc upstream and swells with waters, as it moves inexorably down toward the Big Easy, a frightening and traumatic scenario is developing in Texas, where months of wildfires and flames has brought absolute devastation to the Lone Star State.

A battle raged in the backcountry of Western Texas last week. On one side: 35 volunteer firefighters from Brewster County. On the other: two wildfires, each more than 100 square miles wide and capable of traveling at a rate of one football field per minute when the wind whips up. The grass of Brewster County, a vast, mountainous region that juts into Mexico, was yellowed and dried up from a seven-month-long drought that meteorologists call the worst in history. The fields provided ample fuel for the flames, and at one point, the fire approached the edge of a residential district, threatening 60 homes. “It’s been terrible; it’s been horrible,” said Tom Santry, coordinator for emergency management services in Brewster Country. “The grass is extremely dry. We’ve had fires one after the other.” Finally, the Texas Forest Service stepped in, and by Tuesday the agency had contained 90 percent of the fires. Around the flames that continue to burn, miles upon miles of grazing and grassland lie scorched. The last two months have been a whirlwind, sometimes literally, of wild weather: The deadliest tornado outbreak since 1932, levels of flooding unseen since the Great Depression. But as Texas’ eastern neighbor, Louisiana, finds itself ankle-deep in water rushing down from the diverted Mississippi River, the Lone Star state is immersed in a climate crisis of its own, complete with months of bone-dry land and thousands of raging wildfires. The state faces the driest seven-month period ever on record, with less rainfall than it has seen since 1895. Unlike the 2009 Texas drought, which experts touted as the worst dry spell in 50 years and cost the state estimated $3.6 billion in agricultural and cattle losses, this year’s drought is significantly more widespread and threatens to continue throughout the summer months. As of May 10, nearly half the state -- an area roughly the size of Montana -- was in “exceptional drought conditions.” To meteorologists, these are droughts so rare that they occur only once or twice a century, according to southern region climate specialist Victor Murphy. The dry spell has spread to nearby New Mexico, Arizona and even Colorado, the eastern parts of which also experience extreme or exceptional drought conditions... Overall, starting in about mid-March, “each successive day of the drought has an impact of tens of millions of dollars,” he said. Compounding the problem, temperatures have soared across the state, and last month was the fifth hottest April on record. Residents of Brownsville, a town on the southern tip of Texas just across from the Mexican border, endured an average temperature of 80 degrees and exactly zero inches of rain. Just to the west, the city of McAllen, which lies within the Rio Grande River Valley but is currently in extreme drought conditions, saw days with temperatures in the low 100s, wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour and, of course, not a drop of rain to speak of. This town and the grassy region to the west is lucky, said local meteorologist Barry Goldsmith, because of its relative proximity to Lake Falcon, still full of water from last year. But western Texas is much farther from any available water, either standing or falling, and places like Brewster County and regions to the north have seen some of the worst of the flames. There have been more than 10,000 fires recorded and 436 homes destroyed since wildfire season began on November 15, said Mark Stanford, Texas Forest Service Operations Chief. Heavy rainfall last summer, which created an abundance of grass and shrubbery, has fueled the intensity of the fires. “It was a nexus of these two factors: The vegetation and then the horrific drought” that led to the unprecedented 10,000 fires this year, said Stanford. - Huffington Post.

Residents across central and northern Alberta in Canada are still trying to come to grips with outbreak of over forest fires that destroyed 40 percent of the town of Slave Lake and a third of its homes. More than 100 forest fires continued to burn across Alberta , with 36 of them out of control, including three around the already almost half-destroyed town of Slave Lake. Scores of firefighters were being sent to the Slave Lake area Tuesday from across Canada in hopes of getting the blazes under control and saving the rest of the town.

A wildfire blazing through a northern Canadian town forced the evacuation of nearly 7,000 people, with many fleeing with just a few belongings before buildings were consumed — including the town hall and the main shopping mall. Nearly a third of the buildings in Slave Lake were destroyed Sunday after strong winds suddenly turned the flames towards the town in Alberta Province, police said. All residents were ordered to leave Sunday afternoon, but evacuation proved difficult as smoke and fast-moving flames blocked some of the highways. By Monday, however, 95 percent of residents were said to have fled. "It was certainly a surreal experience seeing the flames against the night sky," Geoffrey Driscoll was quoted by the Calgary Herald as saying. "We could see behind us parts of the town on fire." "We just dropped everything," said Verna Irvine. "Houses were going up," added her daughter Karen Maggrah. It was "like watching an oil fire. Black as black can be," Scott Sieben told the Canadian Press. Some fled to a town 80 miles away. No deaths or injuries have been reported. As of early Monday, 116 wildfires were burning in Alberta, 39 of them out of control, the provincial government said. A total of 206 square miles had been burned. Warm, dry and windy conditions were fueling the blazes, which were cutting a swathe across central Alberta. The government deployed 1,000 firefighters, 100 helicopters and 20 water bombers to battle the blazes. In addition, 200 more firefighters were expected to arrive from other Canadian provinces. - MSNBC.

Cuba is facing its worst drought in half a century, with tens of thousands of families almost entirely reliant on water trucks for essential supplies. The drought started two years ago, and reservoirs are now down to a fifth of their normal levels. The government is providing road deliveries of water to more than 100,000 people in the worst affected areas of the capital, Havana. The situation in Havana is compounded by a pipe network in poor condition. Drought conditions that is already threatening the country's meager food production.

This year we have not been able to bathe, even in the first downpour of May. In Havana, the drought has robbed us of this rain that popular tradition associates with good luck. The mangoes hanging from the branches seem to await the coming of a shower to ready themselves for our mouths. The striations in the dirt, the barely flowering buds of the flame trees, and this sticky dust that fills the air will only leave when it begins to pour. Where is the drizzle on the windowpane, the smell of the humidity, the droplets left on the leaves after a storm! But the worst thing is the loneliness of the pipes, the strained trickle that comes from the taps, area residents carrying water in buckets because the aqueduct has almost no reserves left to pump. Faces covered in sweat, stinking shirts, nearly empty clotheslines because the precious liquid is not enough. Don't spend too long in the bathroom! Reinaldo shouts, so that the tank on our balcony won't run dry. Meanwhile, the building's cistern becomes a sad puddle, and the hosepipes hover above its minimal limits. And on top of such dryness, is the belief that this year's agricultural output may be worst than last year's, if the rain holds off once and for all. We'll see the headlines in the press saying banana production is down, rice hasn't withstood the drought, and fruit trees have been hit the hardest. And this feeling that there is always something missing for a full plate and that our salaries don't stretch far enough. Whether from poor management, the lack of material incentives for the farmers, or the stubborn rain that, today, obstinately denies us its favors. - Huffington Post.

Nearby, in my homeland of Jamaica, fears are mounting about the low rainfall over the last couple of months and the possibilities of a re-occurrence of last year's drought conditions, the worst recorded in Kingston, the capital, for more than 25 years. Already, our National Water Commission (NWC) is advising customers to make preparations and ensure that have individual storage capacity.

Although the Tropical Atlantic season is expected to bring much needed rainfall here, to Cuba and the rest of the Caribbean; the recent weather anomalies suggests that even with the seasonal downpour, droughts are expected to continue in many areas.

The southern United States is being hit with historic floods as a massive amount of water makes its way down the Mississippi River from heavy rainfall and snowmelt. Residents along the river have prepared for the worst, as towns work to repair the damage that has already been caused. The river is currently nearing record levels at Greenville, Mississippi, where flood waters have already covered about 3 million acres of farmland, eroding for many farmers what could have been a profitable year for corn, wheat, rice and cotton. For the first time ever, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has opened three floodways as residents scramble to save belongings in the Atchafalaya Basin. Areas of the Louisiana lowlands are already being flooded to spare New Orleans and Baton Rouge.

The Mississippi River drew to within a finger's length of the highest level ever recorded at Greenville, Mississippi, on Tuesday as a flood of historic proportions continued to slink its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Levees along the length of the river appeared to be holding and water diverted through spillways seemed to be rising more slowly than expected, but Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal warned residents there's still plenty that could go wrong. "There's still an awful lot of water headed our way, and it's going to be here in many case for weeks, not just a few days," he said. The U.S. Coast Guard closed the Mississippi River around Natchez, Mississippi, to prevent damage to levees from passing barges, especially near Vidalia, Louisiana, where authorities have been fighting to keep the river out of that city's convention center and drinking water supplies, according to federal and state officials. The Coast Guard also reported river closures near Berwick and Morgan City, Louisiana, and at Bayou Chene, where workers submerged a barge to push floodwaters into wetlands and away from populated areas. In Mississippi, 4,818 people have been displaced by flooding so far, said Jeff Rent, a spokesman for the state Emergency Management Agency. In Louisiana, more than 4,000 people had evacuated, Jindal said, citing figures compiled by parish authorities. But he said no shelters have been opened in the state. The crest began passing to little effect Tuesday in Greenville. A few minor sinkholes have popped up around the Greenville area, but the local levee board has quickly patched them up, Mytries Sutton of the Washington County Emergency Management Agency said Tuesday. Fewer than 100 structures have been flooded, she said. The river was cresting Tuesday at Greenville, the National Weather Service reported, with a morning reading of 64.2 feet, more than 16 feet above flood stage. By the weekend, floodwaters are expected to peak at record levels in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and Natchez, as well as in Red River Landing and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, according to the weather service. "It is very difficult to grasp the idea of the possibility of our communities flooding," said Mary Beth Hanks, who has a home in New Roads and a fishing camp in Batchelor, Louisiana. "What would we do? Where do we go?" - CNN.

WATCH: Residents In The Lower Mississippi Basin Prepare For 15 Feet Of Water To Swallow Up Their Lives.

WATCH: People living near the Mississippi river in the US are still nervously watching rising water levels.

In addition to this, the U.S. Coast Guard has just made a monumental move and closed shipping at Natchez.

The Coast Guard has interrupted shipping along the country's busiest inland waterway over fears that the bulging Mississippi River could strain levees that protect hundreds of thousands from flooding. Already, thousands have sought refuge from floodwaters up and down the river. The Coast Guard said it closed the Mississippi River at the port in Natchez, Miss., because barge traffic could increase pressure on the levees and because of fears that barges couldn't operate safely in the flooded river. Heavy flooding from Mississippi tributaries has displaced more than 4,000 in the state, about half of them upstream from Natchez in the Vicksburg area. Several barges were idled at Natchez at the time of the closure, and many more could back up along the major artery for moving grain from farms in the Midwest to the Gulf of Mexico. It wasn't clear when the river would reopen, but port officials said the interruption could cost the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars per day. The closure is the latest high-stakes decision made to protect homes and businesses that sit behind levees and floodwalls along the river. To take pressure off levees surrounding heavily populated New Orleans and Baton Rouge, the Army Corps of Engineers opened the key Morganza Spillway, choosing to flood more rural areas with fewer homes. Another spillway near New Orleans was opened earlier, but it doesn't threaten homes. Most residents in the path of the Morganza's floodwaters have heeded the call to leave their homes, with an estimated 4,800 people evacuated across the state. - TIME.

WATCH: Mississippi River closes to shipping, a costly move.

Economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis told CBS News today that the United States could be looking at hundreds of millions of dollars worth of damage to farmland, as the floods continue to affect a national economy already battered from a global recession.

The flooding on the Mississippi River is sure to cost billions of dollars in damage and lost business - and diverting flood waters away from New Orleans may not reduce the cost of this disaster by much. But just how much will the flooding cost the southern flooded areas - and the rest of the U.S.? CBS News business and economics correspondent Rebecca Jarvis said on "The Early Show" Tuesday that the area affected by flooding is very significant to the national economy because of its gasoline resources. "Thirteen percent of the nation's energy sources (are) coming from this part of Louisiana," she said. "One in nine gallons of gasoline that we use in this country every day comes from this part of the country." Ships, she added, also go through the area, from cargo to cruise ships. The immediate risk to oil refineries and shipping, Jarvis said, seems to have been somewhat lessened by opening the spillways in the flood zones. "That's why the decision was made," she said. "Early Show" co-anchor Chris Wragge said that while major refineries and shipping areas are safe at this time, the surrounding farmland and homes in small towns may be under 20 feet of water for what some say could be weeks. "We're looking at hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of damage to farmland. We're hearing from corn farmers in the area who have not been able to plant their seedlings," Jarvis said. "You could also see in this country, as a result of all of this, corn prices going higher." - CBS News.